Structural member and system



7 May 11, 1948. 5. B. MAYNARD 2, 6

STRUCTURAL MEMBERS AND SYSTEM Filed Sept. 9, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 11, 1948- E. B. MAYNARD 2,441,364

' STRUCTURAL MEMBERS AND SYSTEM Filed Sept. 9, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I May 11, 1948. MAYNARD 2,441,364

STRUCTURAL MEMBERS AND SYSTEM Filed Sept. 9, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Invasion- Patented May 11,1948

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE n STRUCTURAL MEMBER AND SYSTEM 4 Edward B. Maynard, Riverside, Conn. Application September 9, 1944, Serial No. 553,383

4 Claims.

This invention relates to buildings, and is particularly concerned with the design and production of a standardized building unit or block which may be used in various aspects to construct walls, floor, roof and other related portions, such as foundations and porches.

The invention contemplates the production of a unitary member of such size and weight that it may readily be handled by one or two men for ease in positioning as the building operations proceed, and it also involves a new and useful type of connection at the ends of each member so that the walls, floor, roof, partitions and closets will be solid and rigid and able to withstand all of the stresses to which a building is normally put.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure which may not only be easily assembled, but also be demountable, portable, and subject to alterations.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a building unit or block of material which is readily available in practically all communities. One such suitable material is cement, and in the preferred form the unitary members will be individually reinforced by suitably formed steel bars. V

A structure formed according to my invention and made from the materials herein described will be substantially verminand fire-proof, and when properly locked will be secure againstvandals or thieves. Also, due to the weight of the material of which the structure will ordinarily be made, it will be flood and hurricane proof.

These and other objects of my invention will appear as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a structural block or unit.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation looking from the left of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 shows the interlocking connections made by four units.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of two units connected to form a right-angle comer.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 5 revolved 90 degrees to the left.

Fig. 7 shows the connection between two units to form a, roof joint.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig.7.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of two units joined in a manner to form a, connection at a greater angle than that shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of still another means of connection between two units to form an angle greater than that shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig, 11.

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of a typical floor construction.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of atypical wall construction at one of the'corners.

Fig. 15 is a side elevation of a typical roof construction, showing one method of securin the roof to the walls.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a unitary member which comprises the basic unit or block from which all forms of the structure may be built. This unit is referred to generally at 2, and consists of a longitudinal body 4 of appropriate length, depth and thickness. Such dimensi'ons may be varied to meet particular circumstances, but in general suitable lengths will be 6 and 9 feet, the width may be 12 inches, and the thickness 3 inches. 1

The unit may bemade of any suitable material, but a preferred construction is of porous concrete which may be sawed and is soft enough to permit nails to be driven therein. The unit may or may not be reinforced, but in general it is desirable that reinforcing bars be present. Such bars are shown at 6, 8 and I0. As can be seen in Fig. 2, bars 6 and I0 extend from end to end closer to the side wall l2 than to side wall 14, while bar 8 is closer to wall l4. By distributing the bars'in this manner, additional strength against bending is obtained, which may be utilized when the units are used as floor or roof members. r

The units are of typical tongue and groove construction. The tongue is shown at l6 and the groove at I8, and a detail of the engagement of tongue and groove of adjacent units is shown in Fig, 4. Here it will be noted that the groove is. somewhat deeper than the height of the tongue, so that there will be sufficient clearance at the base of the groove at 20 to provide a tight fit along the engaging walls.

Each unit or block may be considered as a generally rectangular body having extending' therefrom at each end extensions 22 and 24. In the preferred form of the invention the extensions will be disposed at diagonally opposite corners of the block. However, it will be understood that the extensions may be located at the two top corners or the two lower corners as the The presence of reinforcing bars 6, 8, and I0, shown in Fig. 1, provides sufficient strength to render the members strong enough to carry the loads normally imposed thereon when laid fiat to form flooring, as shown in Fig. 13. When used as flooring, it is preferable that the members be laid with the reinforcing bars 6 and III on the under side and with the reinforcing bar 8 toward the upper side, as this provides two bars in tension and one bar in compression, which is the stronger arrangement.

In Figs. 14 and 15 are shown typical forms of construction built up to a sufficient extent to give a better idea of the interlocking arrangement.

Fig. 14 shows a series of units assembled to form a corner of a building, and in this case the corners are interlocked in the manner shown in Figs. 5 and 6. If desired; the corner may be covered with an ornamental molding, which may be waterproofed to assist in keeping out moisture.

In Fig. 15 is shown a convenient way of mounting the roof on the walls. The members S and which have been assembled with the two reinforcing bars III] and. H2 on their under sides, are cut away at I I4 and I I6 suiiiciently to expose members H0 and H2 at those areas. Bar H0 is then sawed away at H8 and the freed end I20 is bent downwardly so that it extends below the bottom surface of member S to engage the upper surface I22 of wall I24. Similarly, bar H2 is cut away at I26, and the freed end I28 is bent downwardly to rest on the upper surface I30 of wall I32.

The reinforcing bars may be cut away and bent downwardly in enough of the roof members so that there will be adequate engagement with the tops of the walls to provide a suflicient grip thereon, so that the roof will be securely anchored in place.

While preferred constructions of my invention have been shown and described, it is understood that it is not intended to be limited thereby, but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A building block comprising a member having a generally rectangular body and having an extension from one end and another extension from the other end, the width of the two extensions being substantially equal, two oppositely directed pins extending from each of said extensions at right angles thereto .and parallel to the long dimension of the end of the block from which each said extension projects, said pins being at a distance from the end of said body that is substantially equal to the thickness of said block, two oppositely disposed holes in each of said extensions located substantially at the base of each of said extensions and parallel to said pins, each hole positioned to receive one of the pins of another identical block when said blocks are in parallelism with their adjacent extensions overlapping each other and at least one extension is abutting the end of the body of the adjacent block.

2. A building block comprising a member having a generally rectangular body and having an extension from one end and another extension from the other end, the combined width of the two extensions being substantially equal to the width of the member, two oppositely directed pins extending from each of said extensions at right angles thereto and parallel to the plane of the largest surface of said block, said Pins being at a distance from the end of said body that is substantially equal to the thickness of said block, two oppositely disposed holes in each of said extensions located substantially at the base of each of said extensions and parallel to said pins, each hole positioned to receive one of the pins of another identical block when said blocks are in parallelism with their adjacent extensions overlapping each other and at least one extension is abutting the end of the body of the adjacent block.

3. A building block comprising a member having a generally rectangular body and having an extension from one end and another extension from the other end, the width of the two extensions being substantially equal, two oppositely directed pins extending from each of said extensions at right angles thereto and parallel to the long dimension of the end of the body from which each said extension projects, said pins being at a distance from the end of said body that is substantially equal to the thickness of said block, said pins constituting the out-turned ends of longitudinally extending reinforcing bars buried in said block, two oppositely disposed holes in each of said extensions located substantially at the base of each of said extensions and parallel to said pins, each hole positioned to receive one of the pins of another identical block when said blocks are in parallelism with their adjacent extensions overlapping each other and at least one extension is abutting the end of the body of the adjacent block.

4. A building wall structure comprising a plurality of identical blocks placed one on the other, each block having a body and having a longitudinally directed extension projectin from the end of said body, said extensions having at their ends two oppositely directed pins extending at right angles thereto and parallel to the long dimension of the end of the body from which each said extension projects, said pins being at a distance from the end of said body that is substantially equal to the thickness of said block, whereby when said blocks are placed at right angles to each other with the said extensions overlying each other at right angles to each other, the two said pins on the end of one said extension will overlie and rest against the sides of the two ex: tensions that are immediately above and below and at right angles to the extension carrying the two said pins, thereby producing a locked structural corner.

EDWARD B. MAYNARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 758,417 Clarke Apr. 26, 1904 850,602 Rader Apr. 16, 1907 861,499 .Carroll July 30, 1907 1,053,415 MacKay Feb. 18, 1913 1,208,983 Krebs Dec. 19, 1916 1,514,081 Hahn Nov. 4, 1924 1,886,962 Roche Nov. 8, 1932 1,890,532 Skolnik Dec. 13, 1932 1,988,856 Passino Jan. 22, 1935 2,100,451 'Parkhurst Nov. 30, 1937 2,309,149 Wood et a1. Jan. 26, 1943 

